Italy could soon hold a national referendum on halving the number of years non-EU residents need to live in the country before they can apply for citizenship.

Currently, non-EU nationals must live 10 years in the Mediterranean nation before they are eligible to become Italian citizens.

Campaigners have been trying for years to change the law and make it easier for foreigners to acquire Italian citizenship.

Now they have succeeded in collecting enough signatures from the public to force a referendum.

The campaign has been organised by opposition politicians and non-profit organisations like Oxfam Italia, who want the number of years cut from 10 to five.

“We did it! In very few days 500,000 citizens signed for the #CitizenshipReferendum,” opposition lawmaker Riccardo Magi said on his social media channel on Tuesday.

Italy is somewhat of an outlier when it comes to residency criteria for foreigners.

Halving the time non-EU nationals have to live in Italy for residency purposes, would bring Rome in line with other European countries including Germany, France, Portugal, the Netherlands and the UK.

Several attempts have been made to change the law since 1999, but all to no avail.

Magi, a member of the left-leaning +Europa party, said that campaigners and those who signed the petition are pushing for “something simple, almost banal: those who choose Italy to live, study, love and grow, those who imagine their future in our country, are Italian”.

“And it is only the first step towards a more just law that recognises each one of their daughters, each one of their sons, as Italian,” he added.

Italy’s two high courts must now approve any request to hold a referendum before it can go ahead.

The result of the plebiscite will only be valid if there is at least a 50 percent voter turnout.

Around 2.5 million foreigners stand to benefit from any change to the law, campaigners claimed.

However, Italy’s current government wants to retain the status quo, as it continues to take a strong stance on immigration.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said 10 years of residency was “a reasonable period for citizenship” and saw “no need to change” the law.